W.Va.'s Family Treatment Courts Forced To Adapt During Pandemic

On this West Virginia Morning, we hear how one court program that helps bring families back together is adapting in this time of social distancing. And we explore some tips on how to get outside and learn some new history.

Before the coronavirus changed all our lives, five counties in West Virginia launched a new program, called Family Treatment Court. It’s supposed to help reunify families, when parents need help dealing with addiction. Ultimately, advocates for the program hope it will reduce the number of children in the state’s overwhelmed foster care system.

The program is showing some promising results. Emily Allen reports that now, with social distancing, judges and other stakeholders with Family Treatment courts are forced to get creative to keep the program going.

While the coronavirus pandemic has all but halted out-of-state travelers and tourism in West Virginia, there are ways for residents to safely leave home, enjoy some local tourism, and learn a little history along the way.

Civil War Trails, a nonprofit based in Williamsburg, Virginia, offers visitors access to 152 historical sites in West Virginia. All trails are marked with a sign and are free to explore.

Liz McCormick spoke with Civil War Trails’ executive director Drew Gruber to learn about the sites and to explore what tourism in general may look like post-COVID-19 – and ways the industry might recover.

West Virginia Morning is a production of West Virginia Public Broadcasting which is solely responsible for its content.

Support for our news bureaus comes from West Virginia University, Concord University, and Shepherd University.

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